Power-transmission mechanism.



PATENTED MAY 19, 1908.

N RULAND. POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULI 20, 1907.

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N. RULAND. POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION TILED JULY 20, 1007.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

:i'. b0 INVENTOH ZZrznan Rule: 2151'.

A TTOHNE Y8 E II m m WWW M W T m mm v m w- W w 1 WITNESSES 5 u/. yll i NORMAN RULAND, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

POWER--TRANSMIS SION ME CHANISM.

No. assess.

Specification of Lettem'Patent.

Patented May 19, 1908.

' Application filed July 20, 1907. Serial nojssinn.

To all whom it'may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN RULAND, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city oi New York, borough of Brooklyn; in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new end Improved Power Transmitting Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descri tion.

T is invention relates to certain improvements in mechanism for transmitting power from a driving member to e. driven member and for varyin the speed and direction of rotation of said riven member. I

My improved mechanism includes one or more idlers in frictional or geared connection pressure, and one '0 to a. driving Wheel and a driven wheel, the idler being held in roper osition by fluid i the w'eels-b'eing movable in respect to the other to vary its point of enga ement with the idler, whereby the speed 0 the driven wheel may be varied.

The invention also includes e gearing si1nilar to a planetary-transmission gearing, but operating to rotate the-'driven-s'haft at a speedand in a direction directly dependent upon the dilference in the speeds of rotation 0 two separate parts of the driving mechanism and the direction of rotation of one of them. a K Y r In my improved mechanism 1 can rotate thedriven shaft in the same direction and at the same speed as the driving shaft, the two being locked together, or the driven shaft may be rotated at any speed whatsoever from that of the driving shaft down to zero and then through [in/equivalent range in theopposite direction. I am also-able to en? tirely disconnect the idlers from operation when) the driving and driven shafts drelocked together, thus reducing friction rind needless expenditure of energy. I

The invention consists in certain features of construction and combinations of parts, all of which will be f'ully'set forth hereinefter/ and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to he had to the accompnnyc ing drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figurcs, and in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section througlna mechanism constructed in accordance wit.

my invention, a portion thereof being shown in side elevation; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 1s aside elevation of a mechanism involving a dildo'r-Y out means of trmismitting motion to the idlers and illustrating a different clutch and Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a third form in which the planetary gearing is eliminated.

My im )rovcd mechanism is adapted for transmitting motion from one driving clement to another, and is reversible, hereby either of the elements may be employed as the driving element and the other employed as the driven clement. For simplicity and clearness in the description and dnmiiigs, 1 have illustrated the two olmnonts as shafts 10 and 11 and will hereinafter refer to the shaft '10 as the drive shaft and the shaft 11 as the shaft, and between this 'friction wheel and the end of the shaft there is provided a sleeve 14 rotatable in respect to the shaft: Slidably mounted upon the sleeve or keyed to revent the rotation thereof in res ect to said sleeve, is a second friction wh el 15, preferably somewhat smaller than the friction wheel 13 but having a common axis of rotation. The friction wheel 15 carries a grooved collar 16 adapted for cn agement with a yoke lover or any other suits le mechanism, whereby said wheel may be moved longitudinally along the sleeve. Disposed ediacent the two friction wheels and preferab y rotatable on an axis at right anglesto the axis of rotation of the drive and" driven shefts fthere is provided one or in'oreidlers 17, normally in engagement with the two lies in e dillcient plane than the renieiinng portion of the surface, and the wheels 13 and in radius an equal amount. This difierenoe in radius of the Wheels end the distence between the two plane-sol the idler. is such that the in; all lines n engagement oi the two Wheels with the idler may be in sected by e line passing through the inteisew tion of the respective axis of rotetionoiithe- Wheels and toe idler. in this manner, 1 am able to secure the simultaneous rotation of the sleeve 14 and the shaft 10 at exactly blifi same speed and in the some direction when desired. Any desired number of iiilers may heemployed, but in the drawings 1 hone illustrated. two engaging with the friction wheels upon d u'uuetricell opposite noints so that the thiust on the sheits 10 11 produced by one idler will be neutralized by the other idler. in order to reduce friction, to afford a convenient means of throwing the various parts into or out of engagement and in order that the idlers meyengege with the friction wheels at a. uniform pressure, and whereby any inequalities or irregularities in the surfaces of the wheels or the idlers may be compensated for to Plfldllce auniiorin running, 1 preferably hold the idlers in position by fluid pressure, as illustrated. in Fig. 1. Each is provided with a spindle 18. upon which said idler rotates, and the outer end of each spindle is provided with a. piston 19 so constructed. that fluid pressure may be a plied to the outer surface thereof to force t e lCllEfi into engagement with the friction wheels.

As illustrated, 1 punk e a suitable casing 20 for each idler, said casing inclosing the spindle and fOiH'llDfi' a. cylinder at its outer end for the reception of the piston. For supplying the pressure, I provide a tank 21 hevmg a conduit .22 leading thereh'om and provided With'e three-we Valve 23 through which the fluid, preferably oil, may pass to the conduits 24 leading to the ends of the cylinders. The oil in the tank 21 is preferabv under pressure, and as the valve is turned to the position illustrated in the drawings, the oil llows through the conduits to forcethe'idlers into position. The oil slowlyescapes past the pistons and into the chamber SLllIOLllltllilf" the spindles. Within this chamber are p1 fez-ably provided a plurality" of anti-friction follers .25 for holding the spindles in position, and the oil serves to lubricate these rollers. From adjacent the rollers the oil is returnedthrough 2). suitable conduit 27 to the tank, there heing =1 smell pump provided for this purpose. as, for instance, e pump 15. The return conduit 27 comniiuiieates with the Vttlt'l! 23, whereby to permit of the trsnsniis" when it velve mea he t connuunicetio oil. can "so longs cylinders.

The sleeve ll may he directly coon. to the driven shett ll, or the e "e in omitted and the wheel hot-ed.

the driven shaft, es illhstietsd power by the distribution n t to obtain greater rsne'e ably insert e gearing i...

. I, but also item the Elllfi'lb it in egsemleut oi" the ZZT'lC'LlGD. Wheels. The enioloyed resembles somewhat that connio t own as s planetary gearing, d pifeieirshl r COIlSUl'lCiZB-"l as illustrated. sleeve 14; is formed integral with seeing ME having; 8 teeth 30 upon the surt'eee thereof having its outer end closed. by slots 31 threaded or otherwise rigidly seemed to casing. The shaft ll 'teiininetes in a. plate 32 the'cesing and preferably l yilig edjeeent the closure lste 33.. The reduced end 12 of the drive s sit it) extends intothe casing, end keyed to this reduced end a pinion 33 having out.'ei'dly direoted tesh' oppositely disposed to the inWerdly-dii'eoted teeth. 30 of the cesing. The late of the driven shaft is provided Wit one or more outwerdlyextending studs 84%, each beefing a pinion 35, and each of these pini'ons engages not only with the pinion 33 of the drive shaft, but also with the gear teeth of the casing.

in the opei'etion of the device illustrated in Fig. 1, ower is applied to the shaft 3.0 from any suitable source, and. the friction Wheel on this sheft serves to operate the 50.1 idlers o1 disks It: The friction Wheel 15 is rotated- Tom the idleis, when the two wheels speclosely edjecent such other the sleeve Mend the shaft 10 are caused to iotote in the some direction at the some speed. The pinion 33 is now completing one revolution in exactly the some time as is the casein 29, end the pinious 35 are therefore ce-rrieuare uud the pinion 33 but prevented Tore i'oteting on their T his bodily movement of the pinion causes 9. rotation of the driven shaft" 11, which shettfit, Wil'lbe noted, will rotate at exactly the some speed as the drive shaft. "The shaft 11 is preferably provided with e.- toothed clutch '36 keyed thereto sedslidshle to engage with teeth 37 on the piste 31 of the casing 29. /Vhen the shafts .zue rotated at the seme speed, this clutch may be readily thrown into operation end-then the valve 23 mey be turned and the lCllTS no 125 longer held in engagement With the friction wheels. When it is desired to rotate the driven shaft from the drive shaft at e. differout speed or in a different direction, or to hold the same from rotating, the friction wheel is .moved along the sleeve to the proper point. As the wheel 15 is moved away from the wheel 1.3,the sleeve 1-1 is caused to rotate slower than the drive shaft 10, and the resulting difference in the rates of rotation of the pinion 33 and the casing 29 causes the pinions 35 to rotate in the opposite direction on their axes and thusretard the, rotation of the driven shaft.

When the friction wheel 15 reaches ap- .proximately the location at which it is shown in'Fig. 1., it is rotated in the reverse direction from the friction wheel 13 and the inion .35 and easing are rotated in o iposite irections but at different speeds. W hen the relative sp'eeds of the two are in inverse ratio to the numbers of the teeth on the pinion 33 and the casing 29, the outer sides of t in pinions 35 will be moved as rapidl in one din-wtion as are the inner sides of t is piuions moved in the opposite direction. This permits the piuions to' rotateon their axes and permits the shaft 11 to stand still independent of the s ieed of rotation of the shaft 10. As the friction wheel 15 is moved farther toward the 'right hand side of Fig. 1, the difference in the re ative sizes -of the parts em loyed.

speeds of rotation of the inion 33 and casing 29 increases, and thesha t 11 is caused to rotate in the reverse direction. Thus, it is evident that with the shaft 10 rotating at constant speed, the shaft 11. may be rotated at the same speed and-in the same direction or at any lesser speed whatsoever down to the oint at which the shaft 11 stands still. By urther movement of the friction wheel 15 in, the same direction, the shaft 11 may be, caused to rotate in the reverse direction from the shaft 10 and at any s eed from zero up to a redeterniinedj limit, (ependent upon the In changing from one speed to anot er, there is not the slightest jar, as the changeis gradualand covers every speed from the highest to the lowest in succession. The idlers may be withdrawn from operation when the two shafts are rotated at the same speed, thus reducing the friction and reducing the loss of energy resulting therefrom.

In orderthat the idlers'maylbe more positivelyi'and definitely rotated from the wheel- 13 and all loss due fo slipping eliminated, I

may, if desired, orm the wheel 13, as a bevel gear wheel 13, as illustrated in Fig. 3', and .form theidlers with flat faces for the engage ment .withthe friction wheel 15 hutfh'aving a bevel gear rim 1.7 adjacent the circumference thereof for engagement with the bevel gear wheel 13.

"In Fig. 3, the planetary gearing is not illustrated in detail, as the same gearing as is drown in Fig. 1 may be employed. y 'In order to permit the. pinion 13 and idlers 17" to remain stationary nfler lho clutch as has been thrown in and l) sill\'l*l stopping the device in case of vmurgcncv. the friction drive wheel 1 or the gear heel 13, may be secured to the shaft by a rluh-h rather than by a kev or set screw.

In Fig. 3 .l have illustrated a clutch r lls r 38 keyed to the shaft 10 and nornnilf in engagcmcnt with thodrivc gear wheel 12-3 to rotate the latter, but. capable of longimdinal movement outof engagement ifh [his drive wheel to stop the latter in enn-rgom-v .lf desired, the drive shaft ll) may terminate nd jucrnt the drive wheel 15; and the driven shaft 11 may extend into closo rlnimily to said drive wheel.

In Fig. i l have illustrated sin-l1 a drive shaft 11", and in lhis form the pf-nu-hnrv gearing is entirely eliminated and tho driven friction wheel 1;) and its ('ollnr Hi are keyed direcfly to the driven shaft. The rqui lent of the clutch collar 36 and teeth 37 supplied irthc form of oan-ling clutch teeth.

39 and 40 upon the friction drive wheel 13 and the friction driven wheel 15. As these two wheels are brought closely adjacent each other to rotate the two shafts at the same speed, the clutchdccfh of one cngagewvith the clutch teeth of the other and the idlers may then be moved out of engagement. with the friction wheels as in the form illustrated in Fig. 1.

Having thus described myfiinvention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: v i

1. In combination, two oppositely-disposcd'rotatable disks, a friction wheel inter.- mediate said disks and in enga 'ement with the surface of each andmovab 0 along said surfaces to vary the relative speeds of rotation of said dislssiand said wheel, and means for applying fluid pressure to both of said disks to hold them in ngagement-with said wheel with equal ipressureand 'toeliminate' Ltioi i wheel in engagement with the surface thereof and movahlc'along said surface 1o vary the relative speeds of rotation, and means for applying fluid pressure to hold said diskand wheel in uniform ongngcnwnl.

4, In combination, a dish, a friction \vln-ol ,in engagement with the surface thereof, a

spindle carried by said disk and ronna'hle supporting the latter, and means for applying a fluid under pressure into engagement with the end of said spindle to hold the disk in uniform engagement with the friction wheel. p

5. In combinatrom-a disk, a friction wheel in engagement with the surface thereof, a spindle secured to said disk and serving as an axis of rotation, anti-friction bearings for said spindle, a piston upon the outer end thereof, and means for supplying oil under pressure against said piston for holding the disk in engagement with the friction Wheel and for lubricating the bearings of said spin\ dle.

eluding two rotatable gears, means for varying the relative rates of rotation, a rotatable driven member including a pinion'in engage rnent with both of said gears, whereby its speed of rotation is dependent upon the dif-i ference in the speeds of rotation of the gears and a clutch for lockingtogether said driving and driven members when they are retating in the same direction and at the same speed. g

7. in combination, a driving member, in cluding a pinion and an internal gear encircling the same, means for varying their role tive rates of" rotation and the direction of ro-- tation ofone of them and a driven member including; a pinion in engagement with the 1 a pinion carried thereby and rotatable on an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said shaft and in engagement with said firstmention ed pinion and casing gear.

10. In combination, a pinion, means for positively rotating the same at a uniform speed, a casing inclosing the pinion and hav ing an internal gear, means for rotating said casing and varying the speed of rotation, a

. driven shaft in alinement with said pinion 6. in combination, a driving member, in-

and a pinion carried by said driven shaft within the casing and in engagement with the first-mentioned pinion and said internal gear, and means for locking together the cars ing and the driven shaft when the pinion and. internal gear are rotating in the same direction at the same speed.

11. In combination, a shaft, a sleeve'ro tatably mounted thereon, a friction wheel carried by saidshaft, a friction wheel carried by said sleeve, each of said wheels being held from rotation in respect to its respective shaft or sleeve, one of said Wheels being of greater diameter than the other wheel, and a disk presenting two parallel surfaces concentric with each other. one of said friction wheels engaging with one of said siirfaces and the other friction wheel'engagizig with the other surface,.and one of said friction wheels being; axially movable along the sum inion mounted to rotate on an 1 axis paralle to the axis of rotation of the driven member and in engagement with the first-mentioned pinion and the gear teeth.

U. in romhination, a driving member, in-

cludiu; a shaft having a pinion adjacent the end thereot, a sleeve rotatatdy mounted upon face of the disk with which it is in engagement. c

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NORMAN RULAND. 

